The present invention relates to a suitcase and a method of manufacture thereof, in particular, but not exclusively wherein the contents of the suitcase are protected from wear and tear.
The term luggage refers to any number of bags, suitcases and/or containers which hold a traveler's articles during transit. Luggage has changed over time. Historically, the most common types of luggage were chests or trunks. In more recent times, smaller and more lightweight suitcases and bags that can be carried by an individual have become the main forms of luggage.
A suitcase is a general item that may be wheeled or non-wheeled luggage, as well as soft or hard sided baggage. A suitcase is often a somewhat flat, generally rectangular shaped item with rounded or square corners and is made from materials that more or less keep their intended shape. Many modern suitcases have a built in set or sets of wheels enabling them to be pulled along flat hard surfaces, most commonly by an extendable telescopic towing handle. The extendable towing handle is conveniently moveable between a retracted stowage position and an extended user towing position.
It is a convenient and commercially conventional practice to define a ‘hard’ suitcase as one in which the walls, top and bottom of the suitcase cannot easily be penetrated by a needle or blade, whereas a ‘soft’ suitcase is one than can be readily so penetrated.
Suitcases are often used by travelers on airlines. As is well known airlines impose a weight limit that each passenger may check in without attracting a surcharge. As such, whether in relation to hard or soft suitcases, it is a commercial imperative to ensure that as much as possible of this weight allowance is borne by the contents of the suitcase and is not due to the suitcase itself.
It is a related requirement that as large a portion of the volume of a suitcase should be free for the use of the traveler as possible. However, a common means of construction of the telescopic towing handle is to mount a pair of receiving tubes within the body of the suitcase, secured by way of a base panel of the suitcase, and extending to or through an upper panel of the suitcase, and to slidably locate a pair of tubes, which make up the side limbs of a U-shaped handle assembly forming the extendable towing handle, within the receiving tubes. In practice, while providing for a robust construction, the presence of these tubes adds considerably to the overall weight of the suitcase and reduces the interior volume of the suitcase available for use by a user of the suitcase.
Accordingly, there is need for a towing handle that has the advantages provided by allowing for towing of a wheeled suitcase, while eliminating or at least mitigating the disadvantages of telescopic towing handle arrangements.